Electronic computing devices may be used to consume content, such as audio books, television shows, movies, and music. For example, a user may consume content on a smart phone, tablet computer, portable media player or laptop computer. Such devices may include both audio and video output components, or they may include only an audio output component. Users may use the electronic devices to track personal information (e.g., contacts, calendars, reminders), execute applications (e.g., games, mapping applications, internet browsers), communicate with others (e.g., phone calls, text messages, emails), and the like. In many cases, users may multitask on an electronic device, performing two or more independent tasks on a single device at the same time, with each task sharing the computing capacity, input and output components, and other resources of the device. In addition, the devices may multitask independently of, or in conjunction with, the user. For example, a device may be monitoring for incoming messages while the user is interacting with the device in other ways, such as consuming content.
In a common application, a user may listen to audio content on a personal electronic device. While the audio content is playing, the user may receive a communication from another user, such as an email. The device may be configured to display a visual notification and/or present an audio notification when such a communication is received. If the device is to present an audio notification, the notification may not be recognized by the user if it is presented simultaneously with the audio content. In such cases, the device may temporarily lower the volume of the audio content and present an audio notification regarding the incoming email to the user, and subsequently return the volume of the audio content to its previous level.